handy gadget but....

Having an altimeter compass thermometer stopwatch clock and barometer all-in-one seems handy enough. The unit seems to work well with one exception; the instructions say it may take 3 hours for the barometer/altimeter to correct itself after flight.



My unit was delivered by air and when it arrived the pressure reading was a full 3 inHg below the local weather station (reading 27" rather than 30"). It took not 3 hours but a WEEK for it to slowly creep up so that now it reads about 0.3" below the local station. Not sure how confident I am with it's minute-to-minute variation and since it calculates altitude from this I wouldn't be skydiving with it...More detail ...

A nice station for the price

I'm a meteorologist. If I had it in my budget to get a professional weather station (like from Davis) for my home I would but until I do this station will serve nicely.



The display unit is nice and large very easy to read. The base is narrow enough that I can set it on the kitchen window sill without worrying it will fall into the sink. The remote sensor is about 30-40 feet away around the corner of the house. Our home has metal siding and the signal from the remote has to travel through two exterior walls and a window; we've had no reception problems.



The sensors are accurate. When I first put in the batteries (follow the instructions as another reviewer said) I let the outdoor sensor sit next to the indoor sensor for quite a while. The readings from the base unit and remote matched within 0.7 of a degree and 2% humidity.



The clock set itself within about an hour of putting in the batteries.



The base unit is easy to read and full of information. The unit records not only high and low temperature and humidity for both the indoor and outdoor sensors but also the date and time the reading was taken. If you were so inclined you could reset the measurements on 1 January then on 31 December see when you had your highs and lows for the year.



I want to address a couple of comments by other reviewers. First the specifications of the unit (found on page 23 of the manual downloadable from Amazon) clearly state the unit will only report outside temperatures to about -22F. Expecting La Crosse to do something about this is like buying a Geo Metro and complaining that you can't compete in NASCAR. The unit is not built for those extreme low temperatures. Don't buy it if it doesn't meet your needs.



Second the Weather Channel reports measurements taken by a weather station (often at an airport or NWS office) that is in your cable viewing area. The Weather Channel is not reporting conditions in your backyard. Official measurments are taken using instruments housed in a shelter built to certain specifications usually 4-6 feet off the ground. I've got my outdoor sensor stuck to the side of the house about 8-9 feet up. It's good enough for backyard meteorology but it's definitely doesn't meet requirements for official measurements.



Third the reason the pressure tendency chart blinks (actually it's displayed in a scrolling fashion) is "to avoid burnout of the LCD". Manual page 18 section I9.



Remember the pressure displayed is station pressure. The values reported by the Weather Channel are converted to sea level pressure. Station pressure is affected by the height of the weather station; the higher you're located above sea level the lower the pressure displayed compared to sea level pressure. Fortunately it's not the number that matters. What you're interested in as a weather watcher is the pressure tendency. If the pressure is dropping then look for worsening weather; likewise with increasing pressure you can expect conditions to improve.



All in all this is a nice package with many features found only on more expensive units.



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Update 25 Aug 2007

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The unit is still going strong after a year though the outside sensor died. It fell off the side of the house a couple of times - it's possible that had something to do with it. Fortunately the replacement sensor is only $15 here on Amazon though it doesn't come with a weather shield. I have it under an eave but I still may seal the new sensor (La Crosse Technology TX6U Wireless Temperature Sensor) with silicon as a precaution.



I didn't realize how much I looked at the thing until the sensor died...I'm going through data withdrawal now.



Interestingly the unit is now branded as "The Weather Channel" wireless weather station. When I bought this it was just a regular old wireless weather station. Perhaps TWC branding is the reason the price has gone up since last year.

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Reasonable and functional product

I bought this product so that I can keep track on the local weather. This is the best reasonably priced weather station that I am happy with. Still the user manual should be better (not sure hos to get Wind Chill and heat index function to work.....) and the mounting option should be better equipped.

Overall all I am happy with it.More detail ...

Not Bad

I bought this mainly for the barometer and anemomter features to have along for fishing and hunting trips. Both of these features work very well as well as the hygrometer. The unit shows these in real time tracks changes and records minimum and maximum events.



The only feature that doesn't work well is the altimeter. I don't know what theory or system is used but it isn't accurate at least not on my unit. I can be sitting in the same place and watch the altitude go up and down without moving it. It's very seldom that it remains stable. I can understand some fluctuation +/- a couple of feet but it goes beyond that. Since the altimeter wasn't an important feature for me it's not a bother.



The unit seems to be made well and hopefully proves to be reasonably durable which I think it will. It's a bit pricey but I got a better deal on Amazon than I found anywhere else. All in all it's not a bad little unit.More detail ...

Good accuracy

I have the Oregon Scientific WMR100 which comes with a rain collector a combined wind/temperature/humidity sensor a display unit and various mounting hardware. I tested its accuracy in several ways including pouring carefully measured amounts of water (from a rain gauge) through the rain collector comparing the temperature readings with a very accurate thermometer and holding the wind sensor out the window of a car at 40 mph. The results were impressive. I had previously tried these tests on a LaCrosse weather station as well as one from Radio Shack neither of which was completely accurate. The Oregon Scientific WMR100 was right on the mark for measuring preciptiation and also for temperature. The temperature was down to minus 15F one night and lithium batteries still worked fine. The outdoor temperature sensor is slow to respond to rapidly rising or falling temperature but this is probably a good design feature to avoid over-reaction to direct sunlight if it's not in the shade. The wind speed readings for 40 mph on the odometer ranged from 40 to 45+ on the display unit but doing this out the window of a car may not be 100% reliable as a test! The display unit sits firmly on a table (well weighted in the bottom) yet is easy to use as a hand unit. It is a little inconvenient to have to scroll through the settings to see everything -- for example the readings for rainfall UV and barometric pressure do not display simultaneously and it is necessary to use the control buttons to change between these settings in order to see them all. The manual is good in explaining everything. The construction is very sturdy considering that it's made of plastic and the mounting pole is even metal. All in all I am very satisfied with it and certainly would recommend it over LaCrosse for a number of reasons. From what I would expect for something at this price I would give it 5 stars.



Update July 2 2008: After several months the temperature and humidity signals were no longer coming through to the display unit without constantly having to reset the sensor (on the roof!) so I returned the whole weather station under warranty as instructed by Oregon Scientific's Customer Service Department listed in the warranty. After more than 7 months and many inquiries they had not sent me the new unit yet saying that it was "back ordered" and would be sent when available.... in a few months! I then contacted the Oregon Scientific retail store where I had purchased the unit and with no hesitation they told me that they backed the product and would send a replacement. So if you buy buy from a retailer who will back the product or directly from the company's retail store. Don't depend on Oregon Scientific's Customer Service Department! The Oregon Scientific retail store in Tigard Oregon was very helpful in dealing with the problem because I had purchased it there in the first place and they still had a copy of my receipt on file. My only regret is not having called them first when the problem began.



Update July 24 2009: This weather station is still working wonderfully!More detail ...

Fast Acurate and Portable.

This device is small enough to carry in your pocket and is very fast and accurate. Very useful since it can measure water and air temperature. Waterproof and it also floats. I have owned this for about 2 months and I am very happy with it has not let me down. More detail ...

Reliable but awful documentation and UI

The bad part first: the user interface is bad enough that you MUST use the manual to set it up - - and the manual is poorly-written and organized.



The good: It's cheap and all the functions I use work perfectly. The display is clear and well-organized. The data seems pretty accurate and the forecasting function is right more often than not.



I've had (and returned) several inexpensive weather stations now and while all their user interfaces have been horrible this Honeywell is the first one I've had which actually worked as promised. More detail ...